


Sailormoon Goddess

by Avilon



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime), Sailor Moon - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Necromancy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-01-02 19:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avilon/pseuds/Avilon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two thousand years have passed since Crystal Tokyo fell to pieces after Chibi Usa took the throne. The senshi are legends, elevated to goddess status to those who are aware. </p><p>An Agent of Chaos has found its way back into the world and is causing trouble. For seven acolytes of the Goddesses it is the time they have been waiting for their entire lives. They are not troubled.</p><p>But they should be. Because an acolyte is no match for the real thing. And that's what Chaos has brought back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: We were the kings and queens of promise

It's truly amazing what can happen when the lynchpin that holds a system together is gone. I'm talking of course about Crystal Tokyo, the center of commerce and government and peace and love and all that crap. It stood for over a thousand years, run by Neo Queen Serenity and her King, Endymion, before their daughter Queen Serenity II took over. 

I should point out, that it was not Serenity II's inability to govern that ended it all, rather her inability to keep her human side under control.

We can't all be immortal of course, biding our time away and the Gates of Time and Space. The queen once known as Chibi Usa ruled for only two hundred years into what she had termed the Neo Silver Millennium before she contracted a fatal illness. Her husband tried his best to live without his beloved, to bring their daughter up without her and turn the young one into a good queen, tried his best to keep the system her mother had worked so hard to build and run going.

But he could not live more than a year without Usa-rin. 

I tried to warn the senshi. I tried to be there. But trying was not good enough. I failed. And once again, for the second time in my existence, I watched my comrades die. 

It felt worse knowing what could have been, what should have been. Had they not died in the Silver Millennium, they would have served their Princess on into eternity, never wavering from their duty and rarely feeling a pull toward anything more. Here, they had lives, were starting families. Even my precious Hotaru had told me, just days earlier, with tears in her eyes that she had become engaged to a wonderful man and how she wished Chibi-Usa could be their for her wedding.

But that future, that chance was cut short for all of them. I stayed in the distance of the rubble of the palace, watching them pull the bodies of each soldier, clad in their Sailor uniforms from the palace. I almost lost it as I watched the workers pull Neptune off of Uranus, who she had protected in her final act as a senshi. It was the last time they would ever be together.

The senshi were pulled into different directions, to different mortuaries around the city.

I could not bear to watch them be buried again. Not after I had grown so close to them this time. But I watched over their tombs, visiting them from time to time. I watched as the people who visited their graves went from a few people every so often, to many people every day. 

At Uranus's grave, people prayed for strength and victory. At Mercury's grave they prayed for wisdom and good grades. At Neptune's grave it was for beauty and elegance. Each grave took on followers, and though their bodies had turned to dust, my friends had soon had cults and religions built around them. At one point, people who remembered that there had been a senshi of Pluto built a shrine to me, even though there was no corpse. The religion died out quickly. Eventually, even Serenity, who had died centuries before her friends, had a group to her name. 

But while I remained vigilant, watching as the humanity of my comrades was quickly changed into godhood, I missed a key. 

You see, though I am immortal, I am not omnipresent, nor am I omnipotent or omniscient. I am definitely not infallible. While I was watching over the dead, something that should have remained dead returned. It was quiet of course. Had I noticed, I would have done what I could to contain it, or found someone else who had that ability and shoved the job on them. 

It was so quiet, that it was nearly indistinguishable from the order it had come from. It was immature, childlike, and it posed no threat.

Not like the wars that went on on earth.

I may have forgotten to mention, while I was so busy remarking about the fact that my friends became gods, that I may have forgotten WHY they became gods, which in itself is still confusing to me.

You see, with the collapse of the ruling party, the different countries of the world soon began to wonder why they had followed a strange blonde princess in the first place. They began to try and assert their dominance over each other and began to fight each other, to destroy each other. Governments rose and fell overnight, at least that was how quick it seemed to be in the whole scheme of things.

And then the bombs fell.

Entire cities and nations wiped off the map by a few bombs. Millions, no... Billions who survived became homeless, and soon began to starve before falling ill. Those lucky few who survived the initial incidences soon found themselves in worse situations. They began to pray for the senshi to return, to return the world to the prosperity that seemed like a legend. And when those prayers seemed to be answered, the people remembered the senshi they prayed to.

Of course, no one ever prayed to me.

Okay maybe one or two did, but I usually tried to keep that to myself.

And then of course there was the whole Moon Child Miracle, but that's for another day.

I know you're probably wondering how I can talk like this, inserting cynical little comments. Well after years of realizing that I'd missed something so big, so important, that it would change the world, I stopped caring. You see, Chaos, as always finds its way back. Finds its way into the world. But this time, there is nothing to combat the evil. Sure I could go all the way to Kinmoku and find their senshi and bring them this way. I could pull my old friends from back in the past to have them fight.

But they'd probably hate what they'd find here. 

And this isn't their story, or mine. It's the story of those who came after them. 

So I hand this to the narrator to tell their story. But I must apologize. I might not be able to stop the cynicism, because after so many years, so many battles, it might just be the one thing I can't control anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars.


	2. And although my eyes were open, they might just as well have been closed

Now that we've fast forwarded through the destruction and rebuilding and more destruction, we are back to rebuilding. And in one little temple near what used to be Minato ward, a young girl wakes up to the realization that it is her birthday.

Her name is Luna, as all sisters of the moon are named after some lunar deity or landmark on the moon. Hell one even has the name of Serenitatis, while another has the name of Imbrium. But Luna, among the sisters is ordinary. From her hair to her eyes, there is very little to distinguish her from the others. Unless you know her family history.

Which Luna does not.

Her bright blue eyes pop open and a smile spreads across her lips. She reaches over to her nightstand and grabs the brush to pull at the snarls in her long blond hair. She knows how perfect everything must be for this day. Her fourteenth birthday.

It's not just any birthday, you see, to be celebrated with cake after dinner, or to be given a private, personal gift by the head matron. No. The fourteenth birthday for the Lunar Sisterhood is where a girl receives her life's duty. Luna hasn't been this excited since her tenth birthday, where she was taught how to style her hair in the two buns and pigtails of the sisters.

So Luna runs to her window to begin her prayers asking for a wonderful day with plenty of sweets and joy, while adding in her desire to be a cook. She's pretty good at cooking actually, and she helps out plenty when its her turn to volunteer, but normally she just uses the time in the kitchen to sneak food. She rushes from her prayers to the Prayer room where she offers the goddess the standard prayers - Life to the world, blessing the sisters, watching over them and grant the world peace. Then Luna hurries off to breakfast.

If there is anything Luna loves more than having a roof over her head, it's breakfast. Even if it's dull and bland, Luna loves to stuff her face with whatever the kitchen has to provide her. So when she gets to the cafeteria, she's the first person there. Not that there are very many people in the first place. She loads her tray up with some vegetables and fruits that came from the gardens before sitting down at her table and beginning to tuck away at the meal in front of her.

It's only a few minutes before a pregnant woman, who has a permanent scowl etched onto her face, comes up behind Luna and places a hand on her the girl's shoulder.

“You're going to be late for your ceremony,” the woman says with a snarl.

Luna swallows, even though she hasn't taking a bite since feeling the woman's hand on her body. She stands up and smooths her tunic before following the scowling woman who is already about ten paces ahead of her. 

She tries to catch up, but the only thing she's catching are the thoughts of what her duty is going to be. She desperately wants to be a cook, or something similar, just to be closer to the kitchen. She has so many questions to ask, but none that she wants to address to this woman. They approach the office of the matron, which is more of a prayer room, and the pregnant woman opens the door. Luna slides in to see the head matron kneeling in prayer and two other women, one with black hair hanging down and another with white hair who looked no older than twenty.

The head matron has always been kind to her, even though Luna's consistently late for prayers and work and baths and pretty much everything except for meals. But bringing strangers into a birthday ceremony is strange, even though Luna has never been to 14th ceremony. 

She bows.

“Head Matron, I am here at your request,” Luna says, her voice high and sweet. And fake. Luna has never liked the head matron. The woman was always so demanding and rude and insufferable. 

“Good,” the woman says, laying a hand on Luna's forehead. This is another thing Luna cannot stand. Being touched on the head. At first it was annoying, then painful. Thankfully, it seems to be annoying again. “As you know, Luna, at fourteen you receive your job. And we have chosen...”

'Cook, cook, cook,' she prays silently in her head, though her head has begun to throb under the slight weight of the matron's hand.

“Acolyte.”

With that one word, Luna's heart explodes and it takes all of her hopes and dreams with it. The black haired woman bows and leaves the room while the girl with white hair comes over to help her. She hands Luna a set of clothes and gives her a comforting smile. She's a really nice girl, when it really comes down to it. And she's not too much older than Luna either. She escorts Luna out of the room and down the separate hallway. A hallway that Luna has never traveled before. The girl talks about the pictures on the walls, but Luna doesn't care. Her head is sunk and she's staring at the floor. There are so many things about being an acolyte that Luna did not want.

Though mostly she just doesn't understand what it entails.

From everything she's heard, Acolytes have the worst job of all. They live in a part of the temple all to themselves, they live constant prayer, they are not even allowed to look at males until they are in their twenties, and they have an incredibly strict diet.

When the girl gets to a door, she gives Luna the biggest smile she can and opens the door to a room with two beds. 

“Welcome home,” the girl says, giving Luna a playful shove inside. Luna tumbles into the room and crumples onto the bed, her feet not even making it off the floor. The girl laughs before letting Luna know that she'll be back. Somehow, Luna pulls herself to the bed and curls up, trying to suppress that threaten to make an appearance.

The door flies open and the girl with white hair appears with a big smile on her face. “Dinner is served!” Luna looks up to see the girl holding out a plate filled with pastries that she has never seen.

We know them better as donuts.

*~*~*~*

After almost a week, Luna finally fells as though she has mastered sleeping in. She's still very unsure about the whole thing, and when she does wake up, Luna goes over to Dianna, the white haired girl who is her roommate, and wakes her up to talk. And Dianna can talk. Shutting her up is nearly impossible. One time she talked until she fell asleep and continued talking. Sure it was gibberish by that point, but it was funny.

Dianna can still sleep later than Luna so when Luna wakes up, she goes over and prods her roommate until Dianna falls off the bed.

“Luna.... is the sun out yet?” Dianna asks. 

“Yes,” Luna replies. The last couple of times Dianna asked, the sun had not quite risen. “Are you sure we shouldn't be starting prayers soon?”

“Luna, Luna, Luna, you're so worried about prayers. Don't worry. We'll eventually get to them,” Dianna says before sitting up and getting back into bed. “You obviously are still struggling to understand 'After 9.' Once you master that we can move onto your physique.”

This thought confuses Luna. “What's wrong with my physique?”

Dianna rolls her eyes and sits up, pulling her blankets close. “You are much too skinny and furthermore you have no muscles, no stamina. Nothing! You are a weak little prayer girl!”

There is a pounding on the wall, telling them to quiet down. Dianna rolls her eyes again. “There's a lot you need to learn, which is why we start with the basics. Sleeping in being the first of those.”

“But I'm not tired,” Luna protests. Thankfully for the pair, their door opens and a matron, probably ten years younger than the head matron, looks in on them. She has two bags on her shoulders, which look like day packs. Luna is now even more confused.

“Good, Luna, Dianna, you're awake,” she says, putting the bags on the ground. “Dianna, I have a mission to send you on, and I'd like you to take Luna with you.”

“But Matron!” Dianna protests. “She can't even wake up normally! You really think she's ready to go out on a mission.” Luna looks between the two of them. Dianna is starring in disbelief at the matron and the matron has an obviously fake smile across her face.

“You have the best reputation with the Shrine of Mars. They requested you specifically,” she says. “Besides, I have faith that Luna will help you out.” The matron bows and turns, leaving the room. Dianna huffs before going over to pick up the bags. She fumbles through one of them, pulling out clothing for Luna and tossing it to her.

“Get dressed. We leave in an hour,” Dianna says. Luna nods before she grabs the clothing that Dianna has handed her. The pants fit to the length and shape of her legs so well, it was as though someone knit them just for her. A white knit sweater is large and baggy with the collar stretched from one shoulder to the other, but it feels so soft and warm, like the rabbits the sisters keep.

Dianna is silent, or at least as silent as she can be when she keeps muttering to herself about how awful this is going to turn out, and how Luna is unprepared. She hands one of the bags to Luna and motions for her to follow. Luna could feel her heart raise in excitement with each step toward the doors. The last time she had been outside the compound was the day her mother had brought her here and left. 

She doesn't even remember what her mother looked like anymore.

When the doors open, Luna finds herself blinded by the light pouring onto her. Her eyes adjust quickly and she gapes at the world outside of the compound. There are structures from long ago still standing, though most of it has been either taken apart or is beginning to truly crumble. There is a black stone path from their building that splits and continues into two different directions.

Dianna rolls her eyes and hurries off down one of the directions. 

“Come on Luna! It's almost a full day's walk to the Shrine of Spirit,” Dianna insists as she continues. Luna struggles to catch up, huffing and puffing once she gets close to Dianna. Dianna begins to talk about their path, about everything they know about the old world, but Luna isn't paying attention to the words. 

Her thoughts are on the people who come out to see them. There aren't very many, and they are dressed fairly poorly compared to her and Dianna. While some of them glare at her and Diana, most of them are staring in awe of the two.

She pulls close to Dianna. Dianna stops talking for a second before looking down and giving a a little laugh. “Don't be afraid. They're just like us,” Dianna replies as a little girl with very dark hair comes up to them holding out an apple. Dianna kneels down and opens her bag, thanking the girl for the apple and putting it in her bag. She pulls a grey scarf out of her bag and holds it out to the girl. 

The girl's dark eyes go wide at the sight of the scarf. She looks around before taking it out of Dianna's hands and running off.

The pair continue down the path until they come to a large set of steps. Dianna stops and looks up at the steps before turning to Luna. “Welcome to the Shrine of Spirit! As far as we're aware it used to be called Hikawa or something like that. Now it's grown huge with worshipers of the Goddess Mars.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small altar and lights a candle, setting it to the side of the steps. She claps her hands together and bows her head in respect.

Luna does the same. She can't explain the peace she feels wash over her. Something so familiar and warm. She opens her eyes and looks up the steps, something inside her wanting to run up those steps so fast as though she'll be home. As though she'll be back in her room with Dianna doing nothing but talking fast and happily.

She takes a few tentative steps up the stairs before she is joined by a smiling Dianna. “I feel like I'm home,” Luna says, speaking for the first time since leaving the safety of their home. Dianna looks down her face instantly switching from a smile to a curious frown. Luna takes in the air of the trees around their destination and hurries up the stairs as though she has done this so many times.

Three identical girls are there to greet them standing in a straight line. What makes them identical is not just the way they dress, which is all in the same red pants and a white haori. It's not just that their hair is all jet black, cut to the same length with the exact same bangs framing their face. It's the look in their face – that all knowing, all expectant, and almost giddy look that binds them together.

“We've been waiting for you,” one of them says with a bow. The other two follow in turn. Luna is at a lost for what to do and stares dumbly at the two girls until the patter of feet reaches her and she feels Dianna at her side. Dianna bows deeply to the girls.

“Reina, Reisa, Reiko,” she says, with a laugh. “I should have known it would have been you.” A sharp giggle escapes the middle shrine maiden. Dianna glances up for a moment at Luna who is still wide eyed at the girls. She grabs the girl's head and forces it down. “Forgive her. She's brand new.” The other two giggled in a manner very much like the first girl.

“Reiko did say you would be here soon,” the girl on the left speaks. The girl on the right nods in reply. “We are very glad you came, you and your protege. Follow us.” The three turn and head into a large wooden structure that looks new. “As you know there are always four of us in this room, watching over the grave, but last night...”

The five enter a new room. There is blood splatter all over the walls and three pools of blood surrounding a large stone slab, that has been broken in two as though someone punched the center. Luna feels the little breakfast she had threatening to make an appearance. She looks to Dianna for advice, but Dianna is investigating some of the blood spots. 

What Luna doesn't realize is that Dianna is also trying to keep her breakfast down.

“Where's the fourth?” Dianna says, standing up. 

“Hiding. Reika was... relieving herself when the incident happened,” one of the girls replies. Dianna shakes her head. Luna can hardly help herself and she falls to her knees, her hand brushing the broken stone on the grave. One of the Shrine Maidens, Reiko, is by her side a moment later.

“How could anyone do this? To desecrate a grave is...”

“Unthinkable,” Reiko finishes, her face bowed in solemnity. 

“Or just plain evil,” a male voice spoke. 

Everyone in the room looks to the window that shines morning light down on the grave slab to see a man sitting on the window sill, his feet crossed in comfort. Dianna's hand reaches into her bag and grips something that Luna cannot see. She looks back to the man who has long white hair and has silver pants so tight they leave nothing (repeat... NOTHING) to the imagination. She then realizes that what she'd first seen as a bolt of red fabric over her shoulder is a corpse, draped in red cloth.

One of the shrine maidens, Reiko again, screams and begins to pull Luna, who stares dumbly at the man, towards the door. 

The man raises a hand and the corpse, which is more or less a mummy, begins to float in front of him. His forefinger on the opposite hand points straight at the mummy's forehead and a nail extends, slowly. Dianna gives a shout, but it does nothing to distract the man. His nail plunges into the corpse's forehead and a light emanates from the hole he has now created.

Instantly the dried out skin plumps up, and the cheeks fill with a rosy color. What had been minor whisps of hair left from the corpse become a full head of jet black hair falling down to her feet. The first breath in ages is drawn in loudly, or maybe the room has been that quiet. Once her breath has begun, her eyes open, but they are not human eyes.

These eyes are dark, completely black and fathomless. There is no differentiating the sclera from the iris or the pupil. It is all one and the same. And it is now focused on young Luna.

“U...” the woman's voice begins, low at first, but soon becoming clearer. “Usa...” The reanimated corpse has found its way to the ground and begins to move toward Luna. “Usagi... chan?”

She reaches out an arm to touch Luna. Luna barely notices the flames that are beginning to travel up the woman's arms.

But Reiko and Dianna both notice. Reiko pushes Luna out of the way as the flames travel back towards the girl. Reiko screams before the fire touches her. Dianna pulls a staff out of her bag and aims it at the woman.

“Power of the Goddess! Protect us from this foul monstrosity!” she cries. A glimmer shines from the staff but does little else. It barely captures the woman's attention as she swiftly turns to Dianna and pulls her hands back as if loading a bow.

“Flame Sniper!” the woman in red cries, letting an invisible arrow release. It knocks the staff out of Dianna's hands and sets the girl's hands on fire. The staff spins toward Luna, stopping right at her feet, as though the god of coincidence had suddenly woken up to see what the racket was. Luna picks up the staff and points it straight at the woman in red.

“Serenity... Please,” she says softly but someone, or something, answers her prayers. The words come to her. “Lunar Light Vibration!” 

It's a bright pink light that erupts from the staff, shooting straight towards the woman. And she struggles to keep her balance and her form, until the white haired man jumps in front of her, wraps an arm around the woman and disappears in a black flash of light.

Luna drops the staff and runs over to Dianna who is being attended to by Reina and Reisa, her burned hands being wrapped up in cool wet bandages. But when Luna kneels down next to them, everyone stops and stares at her. “Are you okay, Dianna?” she asks. But there is no response, just gaping looks from each person. “What?”

“No one's has ever been able to make that staff work the way you did,” Reiko begins, before Dianna can speak the same words. Luna's eyes widen at Dianna, before turning to Reiko. 

“What does that mean?” she asks, standing up and taking a step back. She's not sure she's going to like where this is going.

She's right about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum


	3. How do I look upon the eyes I love and send them down this path I know it isn't right?

They stand in the head matron’s office. Dianna in front of the matron’s with her arms folded across her chest, Reiko in the back corner with her hands neatly folded in front of her. Luna on the other hand is fidgeting, tapping her toes and swallowing out of nervousness.

The trio had hurried back to the compound of the Sisterhood as fast as their legs could carry them. They had been greeted (nearly assaulted) as soon as they reached the compound, mainly because of the fact that Reiko had followed them on their way. 

Luna looks over to Reiko, who gives her a reassuring smile, before turning her head to  
face forward once more. The head matron has been sitting at her desk, silent, for the past hour, staring at the staff that Dianna laid there after their arrival. Luna can still see Dianna’s look of anger and how white the girl’s knuckles were as she gripped the staff the whole way back.

The Matron draws in a breath. “Start from the beginning, Dianna,” she says.

Dianna begins with the knock at their door, but it is Reiko who cuts the girl off when she stumbles with their arrival at the Shrine of Spirit. She takes a step toward the desk.

“My sisters found the grave of our goddess desecrated, and empty. Three of our sisters were dead,” Reiko says, her voice strong and unwavering. Luna can’t help but feel a bit stronger standing in her presence. “The head Miko sent a message here, and Dianna and Luna were the two who arrived.”

“We were caught unaware,” Dianna adds. “We did not expect the person who did this to still be there, and still with the corpse.” Luna looks to the head matron, whose jaw is clenched tightly. She isn’t sure why the matron is so furious, though she’s worried that it may have something with the idea that a goddess would have a human body. That phrase alone would be heresy in the Lunar Sisterhood if spoken aloud.

“And why is a Spirit Maiden here?” the matron points out.

“Because of what happened with Luna,” Dianna snaps. Luna’s head turns toward Dianna. It was not something she had expected to hear. “The man brought the corpse of the Goddess Mars back to life, by touching a finger nail to her forehead. Within a minute, she looked no different than Reiko or her sisters.”

“And what does Luna have to do with that?”

“I pulled out the relic I was given as a weapon, and it was knocked out of my hands,” Dianna admits. Luna desperately wants to defend herself, but she can’t shake the feeling that her silence is required. The head matron moves her eyes to Luna.

“And you grabbed it?”

Luna nods. “I held it and prayed to Serenity for guidance. I felt her speak through me and give me the power to fight off Dianna and Reiko’s attacker.”

The head matron’s face turns bright red, and Luna can almost see the smoke pouring from the woman’s ears. “FOOLISH! I hope you realize that this will cause a rift between our sisterhood and the Shrine of Spirit! To attack their…”

“She was protecting Dianna and me!” Reiko lifts her own voice, taking a step to Dianna’s side. “It was quite obvious that the white haired man who revived the body of our goddess was controlling it. Everyone who was there was well aware of it.”

This seems to calm the head matron for a moment and she sits back in her chair. “Tell me everything you know about the man who stole the Goddess Mars.”

Luna turns bright red when she thinks back to what the man was wearing. She is saved from speaking by Dianna who rattles off an accurate description of the man. The matron stares at the staff that Dianna had set on the desk. Luna is sure that the head matron is praying for staff to work for her, something that Luna prays for as well. There are another few moments of silence before the head matron finally decides what to say.

“We have no choice then. Dianna, you must accelerate her training,” the matron says. Dianna opens her mouth to protest, but Reiko lays a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Take the two to the prayer room and begin with a cleansing. I’m assuming…”

“I am the one they have chosen,” Reiko bows. There is the unmistakable look of irritation in the matron's eyes but she takes a deep breath and lets Reiko continue. “I was told I must stay with Luna at all costs.”

Of anything that was said, this confuses Luna the most, but the matron begins before Luna can ask what they mean by this.

“Normally, the Spirit Maidens sleep in the visitors quarters, but I guess we can set up a cot for you with Dianna and Luna. You must abide by our rules however, and any time you must leave you will be escorted by one of them.” Reiko nods in agreement. Dianna turns and heads toward the door, with both Reiko and a very confused Luna in tow.

Though Luna feels like if she was being towed by Dianna, it would be easier to keep closer to Dianna, who keeps turning down different hallways until the trio finds themselves at a gate that Luna has never seen. Luna looks to Reiko for advice, but Reiko’s eyes are unfocused and she doesn’t seem to be present.

“Consider yourselves incredibly lucky,” Dianna says. “We don’t get to see this room until we’re sixteen. Outsiders aren’t even supposed to know about it. Hell, not even the other sisters see it.”

Dianna opens the door and pushes the two inside. When Luna’s eyes finally adjust to the light, she is overwhelmed. Inside the room is a garden of red, pink and white roses lining the walls and in the center are three glass coffins sitting side by side.

The one on the left holds a man, wearing an outfit of white and lavender. His black hair is streaked with grey, but he has no other markings.

The one on the right is a woman, with pink hair styled similarly to the goddess. She’s wearing a flowing pink gown and she’s marked by a small moon on her forehead.

In the center coffin, lies a woman who could have been Luna’s own mother with long blonde hair and dressed in an elegant white gown. A calm and peaceful expression is etched into her face.

All of her questions fade from her mind as Luna takes a steps toward the coffins and moves to lay a hand on the center. “Who are they?” she asks. Reiko looks to Dianna with a similar curiousity.

Dianna sighs. “Legend says, that when the home of the woman in the center was crumbling around her, she prayed to Serenity to save her lover and their child. She used her body to support a pillar above their bodies through a night, praying to keep them safe. Serenity rewarded her faith by marking the woman and her daughter,” Dianna says, placing a hand on the coffin of the pink haired woman. “Because of Serenity’s gift, they will never change or decay.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Reiko says. 

Dianna snickers. “I've spent too much time with the other temples to believe one thing or another,” Dianna replies. “I think that this is the Goddess herself.”

Luna's next breath is quick and sharp. Those words are blasphemy. The goddess could not have a mortal form. Accepting it from the Shrine of Spirit was one thing – their goddess is not Serenity. “If someone hears you say that...”

“I could be ejected from the sisterhood? Let them. Watch their relations with the other temples collapse without me,” Dianna snaps. “Besides, you both should be cleansed. Remove your clothing and kneel before the center coffin.”

Luna unsnaps her pants and lets them fall to the ground. She pulls off her shirt before looking at Reiko. Instantly she turns as red as Reiko's pants that now lie behind the shrine maiden. Luna still feels over dressed in her underwear, but focusing on her prayers will help. She takes in a deep breath, clasps her hands together and focuses on the goddess.

She feels her fears and worries slide away from her. She feels something warm fill her, comfort her, and it's as if she can hear a voice calling her name from inside her own head. She starts to follow it with her prayers and suddenly there's only light. And peace.

She opens her eyes to find Dianna looking at her with a smile. “And you're done. Come on, let’s go back to our room.”

“Do you think I can stay a while longer?” Luna asks, wanting just a moment alone in the room. Dianna nods and smiles, before motioning to Reiko to follow her out of the room.

Once she’s alone, Luna stands and stares at the woman with blonde hair, pondering the theory Dianna had presented. It does make some sense - the Goddess had taken a mortal lover and had a mortal child. But to let her body remain and let the bodies of those she loved remain made no sense to Luna.

After a few more prayers, Luna stands and heads toward the door, though she stops to get a better look at the roses growing by the door. She leans in and breathes deeply, feeling refreshed and happy. But that relief is ended by the sound of rustling leaves. Out of the corner of her eye she can see a vaguely human form - someone with long hair - standing over the left grave. 

She spins around, but there is no one there. Luna waits in silence, watching the coffin as though someone will return and show themselves. No one appears. Luna breathes a sigh of relief and heads out of the room. As the door shuts, her ears perk up and she swears she hears a voice whisper, but another look into the room reminds her that no one is there. She decides it must have been the door.

But how many doors can sigh the name “Endymion”?

*~*~*~*

He looks at the woman sleeping on the first of the nine beds he has set up.

Her name was once Rei. Princess Mars of Kasei. Sailor Mars.

But that name is nothing. Not without the power that should have been with her the whole time. He brought her life once again, and though her power was enough to burn the white haired girl, it should have incinerated her. It should have set the whole shrine ablaze. But something was wrong.

He brushes a piece of hair from her face. He’s not sure why he chose her as his first. Maybe it was because something called to him. But he also knows how easy it was to find her as well. The others will be harder to find. And with his foiled attack on the Shrine of Spirit he’s sure the worshippers will make his plans harder. But he’s not afraid.

He knows he’ll revive them all and find that cursed jewel with its cursed light that threw him back across the galaxy all those years ago.

Its strange though, he can’t even remember the name of that jewel.

He knows nothing about names. He does not have one, nor has he had a need for one. Perhaps he did long ago, but there hasn’t been a need for it. But he knows that she will need something to call him when she wakes up. For the rest of them to call him when he revives them.

Revive.

Necromancer.

This is a perfect name.

*~*~*~*

As Luna trudges behind Reiko and Dianna on their way to the Jovian Grotto, she holds tightly to the brooch the head matron had given her. It’s warm to the touch and though she cannot get into it she can’t help but feel that there is something important hidden inside.

Dianna had woken Luna and Reiko up at seven to take them to the head matron, where they were ordered to head to the Jovian Grotto. Before they left, the head matron had pulled Luna to the side and handed her the brooch, telling her that it was a relic of the goddess which was described to have unlimited power and that Luna would likely have the ability to access it. Luna had only nodded as the matron handed her the staff she had used the day before.

Even though she is trudging, Luna enjoys this journey much more than the one to the Shrine of Spirit. She’s much less worried about the people watching the group. And she doesn’t see the crumbling buildings as being quite so sad. There’s also much more of a conversation, rather than Dianna constantly talking.

She is able to discern from the conversation that Reiko is fourteen as well, even though she seems so much older. Also Reiko has been serving the Shrine of Spirit for five years. She is also not as devoted to her Goddess as she had seemed.

To Luna, it seems as though the Goddess Mars had blessed her for her service, but Reiko scoffs at it as a curse.

“I don’t want to see the future,” Reiko whines as they continue along the path toward the Grotto. “I don’t want to know what people are going to say, or what they’re going to do before it happens. It gets annoying!”

“But they’re gifts! The Goddess must have…” but Luna finds that any coherent sentence she might try to make is no match for the death glare that Reiko has in her arsenal.

“Don’t get me wrong. I love the Goddess,” Reiko tells her. “But this ability has caused nothing but trouble. It sets me apart from all of my other sisters. It makes them fear me, or even hate me.”

“But the two who were…”

“They tolerate me better than most, but I wouldn’t call us friends,” Reiko admits. Even Dianna appears shocked by this revelation, though she instantly turns her face away. “It’s a curse. Just as you have been cursed.”

Luna opens her mouth to protest, but she instantly realizes what Reiko has said. Luna has always been set apart from the other sisters, and this ability to use the Goddess's relics only increases the distance between her and the sisters. She looks to Dianna, who is now looking down at the ground, silent.

A question opens Luna’s mouth again. “Is that why you’re still with us? Because we’re both cursed.”

Reiko only shrugs.

They are soon greeted by the appearance of a large glass dome, and Dianna gives a sigh of relief. She drags the two girls closer to the Grotto, while trying to educate them on the people they will be meeting. Luna catches pieces here and there - Lady Jupiter, Strength, nature, electricity, Different people.”

“Wait, how are they different?”

It becomes all too clear as they approach the entrance. Surrounding the Grotto is a twenty foot perimeter filled with electrical traps and what appear to be poisonous traps. That’s not even counting the moat that runs close around the grotto. Dianna gives the other two a smirk. “They say their goddess was a solitary one.”

“You don’t say,” Luna remarks. “How do we…”

But Dianna has already grabbed a rock and lobs it toward the dome. Luna holds her breath, waiting for it to hit the glass and crack it, but instead there is the swift buzz of an electrical current and the rock goes flying off in another direction. A bridge extends to the trio, and they walk toward the entrance. The doors open to reveal two large woman, towering over them. Dianna smiles at them. “I'm back!”

One of the women rolls her eyes. “What are you doing here Dianna? And why have you brought a Shrine Maiden with you?”

“Special orders from the Head Matron of the Lunar Sisterhood,” Dianna replies, handing a piece of paper to the woman. The woman keeps her eyes on Dianna as she opens the paper and reads the contents. The second woman leans over and reads the paper as well.

“Unfortunately, the girl who was chosen for that position was imprisoned this morning. She is due a trial before you get ahold of her,” the second one says.

“Did you not read the letter? This is urgent!” Dianna demands. “If we are…”

“And the desecration of the Goddess’s tomb is not urgent? Kusanagi has been warned multiple times that her attitude is not tolerated among us. This prank…” 

Luna can’t hush herself any longer. “Someone attacked the Shrine of Spirit yesterday and stole their Goddess’s body.” The two women roll their eyes in response, and Luna shrinks back. 

“It’s none of our business what happened at the Shrine of Spirit, but if you believe the attack is connected to the mischief, you are more than welcome to talk to Kusanagi yourself,” the second woman says with a smirk. 

The pair motion for Luna and her group to follow them. They walk through a series of halls until they get to a room that branches into six cells. One of the women goes to the first door which Luna notes is bolted by three locks. She looks to Reiko for a sign, but the wide grin on Reiko’s face only confuses Luna more.

“Kusa-chan, you have some FRIENDS here to see you!” the second woman says to the door, before laughing. “She’s always causing problems. We wonder why she sticks around at all.”

“She feels called by Lady Jupiter,” Reiko says, still staring at the door with glee slathered across her face. This obviously makes the two women feel uncomfortable and they glance at each other before going to unlock the door. They go slowly on each bolt, before telling Dianna that she may open the last bolt as soon as they have left.

Once the pair have disappeared around the corner, Dianna unlocks the final bolt and opens the door, to find a young woman standing in the center of the room, wearing a pair of tight pants and a white tank top. Luna takes in everything she can about the girl in that instant. The girl’s face is young but her body is nearly developed. The long auburn curls that cascade down her back are tight, and allowed to run wild, unlike the hair of the guards, whose hair is tightly contained in ponytails. She looks up at them with wide green eyes.

“Hello, Kusanagi,” Dianna begins with a smile. “I’m Dianna. This is Luna, and this girl is Reiko. I was told you were one who was selected.”

The girl only nods. Dianna waits, but when Kusanagi says nothing, she continues. “What do you know about the desecration to the Goddess Jupiter’s grave?”

“Nothing!” Kusanagi’s voice is high, yet forceful. Her hands are clenched in fists. “I did nothing. I wasn’t even near the inner grotto. They haven’t let me there since I joined the sisterhood.”

“We believe you,” Dianna says, calmly. Luna has never heard this calm tone from Dianna. “We just want to know if you saw anything strange.”

“There was some buzzing in our tech,” Kusanagi points to a piece in her ear. Luna had seen a similar one in the two women who had greeted them at the gate. “But beyond that there was nothing.”

“Then why did they lock you up here?” Luna asks.

Kusanagi turns, and an anger flares in her green eyes. Luna would have been afraid but something in her finds it encouraging instead. “They know I’m different. Just because I don’t like their whole solitary act and I want to actually have some friends they…”

“But the Lady Jupiter was a solitary…” Dianna starts, but Kusanagi turns her glare and fists toward Dianna.

“I can’t believe that,” Kusanagi says. “So they made me the servant of the Moon Savior.” She gives Dianna a bow. “I am in your service, my lady.”

Her voice is sarcastic and untrusting. Dianna laughs, before pointing to Luna. “It’s her,” Dianna says. Kusanagi’s face raises to the quiet girl and a look of shock crosses her face. “She’s only been an Acolyte for a week. Cut her some slack.”

“This is insane. I cannot serve…” she motions to Luna. “This.” 

Luna decides at this moment that her initial thought about Kusanagi being shy and kind is completely off.

“Why don’t you get to know her?” Dianna suggests. “I’m sure that once you know her better, you’ll be much more willing to serve her.”

“Wait… what do you mean serve?” Luna squeaks out. If she wasn’t confused before, this whole thing has just been one big clusterfuck to her brain. Kusanagi glances over, before looking back at Dianna. 

“Follow me,” she says, before leading them back down the halls to a room near the entrance. There are mats on the floors and what appear to be mechanical suits in the corners. Luna is still in shock from Dianna and Kusanagi’s exchange, and can barely process what’s going on. “If I’m going to get to know you, it’s on my terms. And you can’t know someone until you spar with them.”

“WHAT?” Luna shouts. She puts her foot down at this.

“Fine with me,” Dianna volunteers her young charge. “But no tech for you. It has to be even.” Kusanagi snorts, while Luna continues trying to sputter a response. She watches as Kusanagi removes the piece from her ear and then removes her pants, leaving her in the tank and a pair of underwear.

Reiko grabs Luna’s shoulder. “Just help her,” she whispers. “She’s going to need it.”

Luna barely has time to be confused, when Dianna calls for the fight to begin. Kusanagi waits for Luna to make a move, but Luna is stuck in her own thoughts. She hears shouting for her to actually throw a punch or make a move, but she can barely think. Kusanagi gets tired of waiting and bolts over to Luna.

And promptly collapses.

It happens in an instant and Luna is shocked that she’s even able to process the information. Kusanagi is seizing. Dianna is screaming and Reiko is rushing over to the door to keep it from closing automatically. Luna reaches into her pocket and pulls out the brooch.

“Please Serenity! Guide me again!” she prays. But this time nothing happens. She yells for Serenity again. Then she looks down at Kusanagi once more, noticing that the seizure is something else. Luna pulls the girl’s shirt up and finds another piece of tech on Kusanagi’s bra. She takes a deep breath and pulls it off in one swift movement.

The seizure stops. 

Kusanagi’s eyes flutter up to Luna who smiles in relief, but anything they would say is interrupted by Reiko’s screaming for them to get out. There is a rumbling and then the sound of cracking glass fills their ears. Dianna rushes over to help Luna carry Kusanagi out of the room. The group follows Reiko from the Grotto and they manage to make it just outside of the perimeter before they hear the glass give way and shatter. 

Kusanagi screams for her sisters who were in the building, and she tries to charge forward, but she is too weak. She makes it only a few steps before stumbling. Luna goes over to try to comfort her, but she watches the dust settle and notices two silhouettes in the dust. One male, one female.

Luna takes a step in front of Kusanagi. She grabs the brooch tightly, hoping that the goddess will answer her prayers this time and allow her to protect the girl. 

A spark of electricity escapes the dust heading straight for Luna. She feels something push her out of the way and she spins. In one swift movement she pulls out the staff that she had used the previous day and aims it toward the silhouettes.

“Lunar Light Vibration!” she cries, and the pink light erupts from the staff once more. It seems to impact something, but when the dust clears there is no one there. Luna breathes deeply a few times before turning to Kusanagi who is staring up at her. Luna gives her a smile and extends her hand. 

With a smile on her own face, Kusanagi takes her new friend’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Save You by Emilie Autumn


	4. I don’t know how I feel, but I know I’ll do the right thing if the right thing is revealed

When the dust settles, the group starts to look through the mess to find survivors at Kusanagi’s insistence. Luna instantly wishes she had not agreed to it. They begin finding body parts immediately. Some are attached to bodies, most are not. But every piece they find, is covered in burns, similar to the one on Kusa’s chest.

“All Jovian tech is connected, or was,” Kusa explains. “Everyone must have felt the shock at the same time…”

Luna finishes the explanation in her head - the shock had killed Kusa’s colleagues before the grotto had fallen.

Dianna and Reiko begin to dig a trench to lay the bodies in. When it is finished, Kusanagi and Dianna begin to carry what bodies they find to the trench and place them gently inside until they cannot move anymore. Luna helps to bury the bodies, but can’t help but feel a sense of horror at what happened. She finds a large glass piece and sets it at the head of the grave. 

The four stare at their work. One mourns, one comforts the other, one remains solemn and Luna remains horrified by the devastation. 

They soon realize that night is falling, and there will be no way to return to the Sisterhood before it’s too dark. Luna also wonders what they will do now that there are two others following them. They can’t just leave Kusanagi by herself, and Reiko refuses to return to her temple. She turns to Dianna who is setting up a small shelter near the remains of the grotto. Once she finishes the four move inside the shelter and get close for warmth.

Dianna removes some food from her pack and divides it among the girls. Luna watches as Dianna and Kusa dig in, while Reiko eats her food in a strangely elegant manner. It keeps her mind off the bodies that are newly buried a few yards from their shelter. Luna picks at her own food and eats a tiny bit of it before the other girls decide it’s time for sleep.

The three curl up close to each other, while Luna can’t find it in her to sleep. Everytime she closes her eyes she can’t help but see the bodies she helped to bury. There is so much blood, so much horror, so many dead.

So many that she couldn’t save.

It’s a stray thought that causes her to sit up. She’s not sure why it enters her head. It is something she would have never thought. There was no way she could have helped any of the other Jovians, she thinks to herself, but the thought continues to nag at her. She shakes her head and leaves the shelter to get a breath of fresh air.

She feels rejuvenated as she stands in the moonlight. It relaxes her and takes her mind off of the horrors that occurred hours earlier. The peace is short lived when she hears something rustling. She turns her eyes to the remains of the grotto and she makes out something. A shadow reflected off the glass and illuminated in the moonlight. The figure is tall and feminine, the hair is short. It seems to be wearing a dress of sorts, something short and bulging oddly in the chest. But it makes her nervous. 

She looks to the shelter as though to call for Dianna, but when she looks back the figure is gone. Luna stares at the spot where she saw the figure, hoping it will return, but even after ten minutes there is nothing. She enters the shelter and gets close to Dianna and lays her head down. She is asleep moments later.

*~*~*~*

The Necromancer admires the newest addition to his collection. 

She was once called Makoto and she rests comfortably while Rei stands by her and mindlessly combs out the brunette’s hair. Rei hasn’t said anything since attacking the Lunar witches, something that has not escaped the Necromancer’s notice. 

He wonders if Makoto will be as quiet as Rei.

He can’t hide his disappointment at the pair he has. He desires Serenity more than the others, but she is inaccessible. Whatever protects her is too strong for him alone to overcome. 

Which is why he needs the pair. 

They aren’t enough by themselves, but once he has the others, he is sure that he will succeed in taking the dead queen for himself. He marvels at the power that Serenity will provide him. He can hardly wait. It will destroy those Lunar witches.

And the idea that enters his mind lights his face. He calls to Rei and she turns to him.

“I need you to do something for me.”

*~*~*~*

Luna wakes when Dianna stands straight up. 

“Come on girls! It’s time to get out of here,” Dianna tells the group, gently shaking Reiko and Kusa until they awoke. Luna remains quiet but attentive as she packs up the little food that was left out. “We need to get back to the sisterhood before the sun falls.”

“Why?” The word falls out of Luna’s mouth before she realizes it. She clasps her hand over her mouth, but everyone is already looking at her. Dianna’s eyebrows are raised at the girl. 

“Luna, you know about curfew,” Dianna replies, but Luna shakes her head.

“Curfew doesn’t count for Acolytes on a mission and their guests,” Luna recites from one of the first lessons. “Especially if there is a refugee. Why do we have to get back before the sun falls?”

“Because we need to protect you,” Reiko says as Dianna opens her mouth. “We don’t have much time.”

This phrase brings back memories of the previous few days. Of Kusa bowing to Dianna. Of Reiko’s insistence on staying with her. 

“And what is that supposed to mean? I want to know exactly what is going on! What is this Moon Savior business?” she says to the group, but mainly to Dianna. 

Kusa glanced at Dianna. “Why does she not know?”

“The matron wanted to keep it quiet, for Luna’s own protection,” Dianna explains, before turning to Luna. “Luna, you are the Goddess Serenity’s chosen hero. Chosen to carry her power and her will to save our world.”

Luna opens her mouth to retort, but her throat goes dry and her tongue sticks in her mouth. Words fail to make an appearance.

“We’re sorry, Luna,” Reiko says with a sympathetic look. “But you are special in ways you don’t even realize.”

“How can you be so sure? How do you know it’s not Dianna?!” Luna cries, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. But the real question rests in her mind - why does it have to be me?

“Luna, the relic you have… It was once a weapon wielded by the Goddess to combat evil,” Dianna explains, but her voice is of no comfort to Luna, who looks down at the ground away from the eyes of the three. “No one else can use it the way you do.”

Luna has to think on it for a moment. She remembers how the relic did nothing when Dianna held it up against the attacker. She thinks about how by merely touching the relic she knew what to say and how to hold the staff. How the words made their way into her mind. She says nothing more.

“And if I’m the Moon Savior so what? What does that have to do with them?” she points to Reiko and Kusa.

Kusa’s eyes raise and a smile wraps around her lips. “Our goddesses fought alongside your Serenity.”

Luna looks to Dianna, wanting some sort of answer, but Dianna shows no emotion as she starts to walk in the direction of the Sisterhood’s compound. Dianna had been hoping she could bring the other four acolytes together before Luna learned the truth or that Luna would take the initiative and figure it out for herself.

“But Serenity…” Luna tries to protest as she hurries to catch up to Dianna. “Serenity brought peace to the world. She’s the Mother-All, the Life Bringer, the…”

“Luna, there is much you don’t know about the Goddess, and…” Dianna’s words stop as abruptly as her footsteps. She throws her arms out to stop the other girls from continuing forward and Luna looks up to see why they stopped.

In front of them is the Goddess Mars, no longer dressed in her red burial gown but in a new red dress that is marked by black flames and accented by a long ethereal black cape. Her long ebony locks cascade down her back and the black areas where her eyes should be bore into the group in front of her.

They all stand in silence, waiting for the other to say something or make some sort of move, but nothing happens. Not even a whisper of wind disturbs them.

Until the Goddess raises her hand.

Reiko screams and pushes Dianna and Luna to the ground as a fire ball emerges from Mars’ hand and spirals toward the group. Luna looks up to find Kusa who barely dodges a second fireball. She grabs something off her back and aims it at the Goddess. Luna can feel the electricity flowing through the air as sparks begin to shoot from the weapon Kusa holds tightly to. The girl jumps as a bolt of electricity flies at Mars.

For a split second, Mars is stunned by the electrical charge before she shakes it off and turns to Kusa. She stares for a moment and a few syllables escape her lips. “Ma…. Ko… Cha…” The goddess stumbles toward Kusa, her arm outstretched.

Luna is instantly filled with terror for her new friend. She watches Kusa take a step away, still clutching the tech weapon so tightly that her knuckles are turning pale. Luna reaches into her pack and grabs the relic staff, pointing it towards the Goddess. 

“LUNAR LIGHT VIBRATION!” she screams, her voice trembling as a flicker of flame begins to exist Mars’s hand. A warm pink light once again erupts from the staff and shoots towards Mars. The light seems to injure her, to begin to break her apart, but it grows to bright for anyone else to see. When the light finally fades, and Luna falls to her knees devoid of any energy left to place into her attack, Mars is no where to be found.

Luna looks at the relic in her hand, feeling the smooth cool metal that made up the handle and admiring the large heart composed of crystal that stood out at the top. But staring at it made it impossible to deny what Dianna had told her.

“What do we do next?” she asks of her group. Dianna only smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Epiphany by Staind


End file.
